The delimma of the fairness or unfairness of the use of steroids in athletics against makeup in fashion and pageants is a debate that I’ve stumbled across quite a number of times. Even though I’m not really a big fan of makeup, I personally think it’s okay that makeup us is allowed in pageants, and anabolic steroid use by athletes is not, because it’s a completely different thing. I’ll explain.
Competitive Advantages
Make up does not inherently change your body’s over all make up (no pun intended). I mean.. sure, it enhances your physical looks a bit, but that is about all it does. It’s sort of an artistic way to amplify or complement your natural beauty. Steroids on the other hand, change the body’s very chemistry. That’s the whole point of using them – boosting your body’s endurance, stamina, and allows you heal faster. These things give you an unnatural competitive advantage over other contestants (players).
What skills (or qualities) are assessed in the competition?
In pageants, contestants’ ability to use make up is part of the criteria assessed in the competition. It’s just like in an art exam where your ability to combine different colors to create art is crucial. Not everyone has the skill and so that is why we have better artists than others.
For most athletic competitions, what they’re trying to assess is your own strong, stamina and agility. These are qualities you gain by eating well, lifting weights, going on runs and training consistently. You’re putting in the work to have the strength and all the other desired qualities of the sport. Using steroids means you’re getting help, and will have an advantage over others. So basically, if you end up being the strongest, that result is not from your own hard work and training, but is owed largely to the steroids.
Think of it this way: it’s like you’re in a marathon competition and whiles everyone is running, you decide to drive a car instead to not stress yourself out. The stress and your endurance and all that is all part of the game and what determines the champion.
Permanency and Safety Concerns
Make Up does not really adversely affect your health when you use them responsibly. I’m not saying it doesn’t affect your health at all (because it does over long periods of use), but compared to steroids, they’re much safer.
Another thing to consider is how easy is to remove makeup. In most (or all) cases that I see, you need just a tissue and maybe some water to wipe off make up, where as for steroids, the effect is more permanent. The permanency increases the risk of damage, and I believe this dangerous nature of steroids is what has forced sports committees to ban their use, because if they don’t, several athletes will at all costs use them to outperform their opponents in competitions. I’m sure if they were not that dangerous, their use would be allowed in sports.
I believe it all boils down to the fact that beauty pageants and sports are different games altogether, and different games have different rules. One thing that is undoubtedly true in both cases though is that both competitions care about the health and safety of their contestants, and have either issued a ban (in the case of steroids) or allowed use (in the case of makeup) in the best interest of participants.
All images are from pexels.com
Cover image was downloaded from pexels and edited by me in canva